1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this All Saints’ Day is taken from Matthew 5:1-12 and is entitled, “God’s Saints—Blessed by God,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Two brothers were notoriously immoral. They were synonymous with the vice and evils that had overtaken their city. When one of them suddenly died, the surviving brother asked the local pastor to perform the funeral service. He offered him an enormous sum of money if, in his eulogy, he would refer to his deceased brother as a saint. After much pondering, the pastor agreed. As the service came to an end, the pastor (in the thick of his description of the departed individual) said, “The man we have come to bury was a thief. In fact, he deserves every vile description the mind can muster. He was depraved, immoral, lewd, hateful, and the scum of the earth. But compared to his brother, he was a saint!” The pastor may not have received the promised gift, but he certainly got across a vital point!
3. The trouble is, we are all saints compared to somebody else. But the truth is we are all as equally sinful in our hearts. And if we don’t understand this, there is no way to stop the human heart. What do you think of when you hear the word saint? If you’re a professional football fan, you might think of the New Orleans football team by that name. If you follow women’s college volleyball, you might think of the Lady Saints of Limestone College in Gaffney, South Carolina. Especially today, when we observe All Saints’ Day, the Readings lead us to think of all the saints who are the holy people of God, especially all those in heaven. When we think about saints, though, we might forget to think about ourselves. Although We Do Not Live Up to the Descriptions of Saints in the Beatitudes, in Christ Who Does, We Are Truly Saints and Therefore Blessed.
4. Today on this All Saints’ Day in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus breaks through our barriers in His beatitudes. He shatters our conceptions of the blessed life and opens the Kingdom of God to all people.
5. I was standing in line at Panera the other day. They had installed a plexiglass screen in front of the cash register to keep both customer and cashier safe. But, what I found interesting, was how many people tried to talk to the cashier without the screen. They would position themselves to the side or lean over and try to speak around the screen. Even though it violated the safety protocols, there was something about speaking face-to-face that was important for these people. Watching this happen, I found myself standing in line hungering for something more than food. I longed for the day we could get rid of these masks and these plexiglass screens and return to talking face-to-face.
6. That is why our Gospel reading today is so refreshing for me. Early in His ministry, Jesus gathers people around Him and speaks to them face-to-face. Obviously, Jesus wasn’t wearing a mask and they didn’t have plexiglass screens separating the people from God. But the people Jesus gathered around Him did have a problem with separation. They, like us, had built an understanding of God and God’s work in the world that kept God at a distance.
7. Have you ever noticed how the word “blessed” can make God seem so far away? A new family has just joined the church. The father had a job promotion to the corporate office. The family now has a high enough income that they have bought a home in an exclusive neighborhood and the mother can stay home and care for the kids. Upon meeting them, they can’t help but share with you how “blessed” they are by God. A young woman gets accepted to a prestigious medical school. She is about to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor and your friend cannot help but tell you how “blessed” she is by God.
8. It is true, that God does work material blessings in the lives of people. And it is good to give Him thanks and praise. But, the problem, is when we limit our thanks and praise only to these situations. God’s blessing becomes something that looks a lot like the American dream... and not everyone experiences that blessing.
9. What about the young woman who didn’t get into medical school and now lives with her parents and works part-time at a dry cleaner? What about the father who was passed over for a promotion or lost his job and the family now needs to downsize as they move down the ladder of prosperity rather than up? Can such people be blessed? Is God still at work in their lives? The way we use the word “blessed” would lead us to say, “No.” But then Jesus comes and radically changes our view of how God works. He does it through His opening words.
10. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Jesus says. These are the people who have nothing to offer God. The tax collector who hides in the corner of the temple and will not dare raise His eyes to Heaven. The widow who walks out of the city taking part in the funeral procession of her son. The demon possessed man who lives among the tombs and knows he doesn’t belong in the city. Blessed are these people. The people who have nothing, who can do nothing, who are nothing, blessed are these people. Why? Because Jesus sees them, comes to them, and promises them that they have a God who makes something out of nothing.
11. “Blessed are those who mourn… who hunger and thirst for righteousness… who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” With these stunning words, Jesus looks upon people, real people, just as they are, amid the suffering and complexity of this life and He brings God’s blessing.
12. Jesus breaks through our barriers in His beatitudes. He shatters our conceptions of the blessed life and opens the Kingdom of God to all people. Why? Because the favor of God comes freely, graciously, to all people in Him. Jesus took the cross, an instrument of shame and torture, and transformed it into the gate of Heaven. All sin is forgiven in Jesus. All suffering is overcome by Him. All the promises of God are and will ultimately be, “Yes,” in Him.
13. In Jesus, who does live up to the descriptions of the Beatitudes, we are truly saints and therefore blessed. In proclaiming the Beatitudes, Jesus identifies himself as the Messiah. Is 61:1–3 says, “1The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”
14. Jesus’ perfectly matching the Beatitudes’ description led to his death and resurrection. He was rejected because he was meek, merciful, pure, and so on, and the same qualities made him willing to suffer as God willed. As our Epistle lesson today says from 1 John 3:1-3, the Father loves us, unites us with Christ, and makes us children of God.
15. Jesus’ Baptism showed his hunger and thirst for righteousness and his sonship (Mt 3:15, 17). In Baptism, we are sealed on our foreheads (Rev 7:3), cleansed (Eph 5:26), and united with Jesus (Rom 6:3–4). As Jesus made peace with God through his blood (Col 1:20), so he delivers that peace to us through pastors in Holy Absolution. As Jesus hungered and thirsted for righteousness, ours is satisfied at his Table in the Lord’s Supper.
16. In Jesus, we are truly saints and blessed. The kingdom of heaven is ours. We are comforted. We inherit the promised land. We are satisfied. We receive mercy. We see God. We are God’s children. Our reward in heaven is great. Jesus says we will be reviled and persecuted, but things are not as they seem, for these are actually blessings (vv 11–12; Acts 5:41).
17. For Christians, the saints are more than a football team, more than a volleyball team, and even more than those who fully experience heaven. As the Gospel makes clear, in Christ, we still living on earth are blessed like them. We have the kingdom of heaven even if we do not yet have the full experience of it. Although we do not live up to the descriptions in the Beatitudes, in Christ who does, we are truly blessed saints.
18. What a blessing it is today to remember what it means to be blessed. Jesus opens our eyes to see how God comes in Him into the sinful and suffering messes of our lives and works to bring about His new creation. In Christ, you are claimed by God. In Christ, you are made a saint of God. And in Christ, you are and ever will be eternally blessed. May God grant that the reality of those blessings, ease our pain under our crosses, and encourage us until Christ returns or until we by our deaths join the saints in heaven. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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